


Prude

by biblionerd07



Series: It's Different [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers team bonding, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Pancakes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 13:11:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1606394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biblionerd07/pseuds/biblionerd07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Roger is a huge prude.  PDA makes him faint.  But not always, apparently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prude

Steve Rogers is a prude. Technically, it’s not his fault—it’s at least partially because of how (and when) he was raised. But it’s a little ridiculous sometimes. A weight-loss commercial with women in bikinis makes him shrink into his seat with his shoulders hunched up to his ears. Seeing people kissing on the subway makes him blush. He nearly fainted once when Natasha came out of the shower in just a towel. It’s possible she and Clint have a bet going about who can send him into cardiac arrest first.

The rest of the team (sans Thor, because apparently the trek from Asgard is too far for a weekly Wednesday morning breakfast date) shows up at Steve and Bucky’s apartment unannounced one morning. Steve lets them in with a frown between his eyebrows, but before he can say anything, the sound of the shower cuts off and he looks backward.

“Excuse me.” He tosses over his shoulder reflexively as he heads down the hall. They hear him knock on the door and say softly, “Hey, Buck?” And then they hear the door open, and then close, and then the quiet murmur of voices. In the bathroom. Where Bucky had been showering. Presumably naked.

Everyone is quiet for three heartbeats before Clint breaks the silence by saying what’s on everyone’s mind: “Um.”

“They grew up together,” Bruce reminds them all.

“And fought a war together.” Natasha agrees.

“We fought an _alien invasion_ together, and he almost choked on an apple when I said Pepper and I were going to take a shower.”

“To be fair, you were already naked at the time, and no one wants to see that.” Clint says. Tony shrugs unabashedly. They stop talking when Steve comes back, biting his lip.

“He’s not having a great day.” He explains in a low voice, eyes downcast.

“We should have called first.” Bruce is immediately contrite, but Steve waves a hand.

“He doesn’t have a lot of bad days anymore, and he says we should keep things normal when he does.” He makes a face like this is a ridiculous request and he should be able to stop the entire world when Bucky needs it. No one doubts he would try.

“We can stay in for breakfast.” Natasha suggests. They usually go to a little greasy spoon with great banana pancakes and minimal paparazzi, but everyone nods their agreement. Steve sighs a little.

“We’ll see what he says. I told him he didn’t even have to come out here to see you guys but he’s not going to listen to me.” He looks the absolute picture of worried exasperation and even throws his hands out to the side. It’s only a few minutes before Bucky emerges hesitantly, dark circles under his eyes and enveloped in a large sweater despite the warm spring sunshine outside. He greets everyone, subdued, and comes to stand next to Steve close enough that their shoulders are resting against one another.

“Let’s make some breakfast here.” Steve suggests brightly. Bucky presses his lips together and thinks about it, but then shakes his head, brushing his shoulder against Steve’s in silent thanks for the option.

“I have to go out in public.” He speaks up. He sounds hoarse, giving everyone the unpleasant image of him waking up screaming.

“You don’t _have_ to.” Bruce says kindly. “Sometimes it’s okay to stay in.”

“I just want everything to be normal.” Bucky insists. “Please?”

And no one can possibly say no to him—Bucky can be a cocky little shit, but he’s also a master of the puppy dog eyes. According to Steve, he always has been. Plus, when he makes decisions, no one likes to second-guess his judgment, not when he went so long without getting to do it.

The diner is empty but for one table, occupied by an older couple who is always there the same time as the team. Tony hates that the couple is more interested in Steve and Bucky than him, but the whole team is enchanted by the Liebermanns. Benjamin raises his orange juice in greeting and Eliza waves. The waitress brings out their usual orders as soon as they sit down, and Tony flirts with her to get an extra piece of bacon and a promise that she won’t tell Pepper. It’s _turkey_ bacon anyway, and his heart is _fine_.

It is all the most perfect kind of normal and boring—except for Steve’s hand on the back of Bucky’s neck the whole time, thumb sweeping slow circles that dip under his collar and pinky tangled in the long strands of hair, and the way Bucky leans closer into Steve every so often. At one point, Bucky even stops eating and twists in his chair to press his face into the crook of Steve’s neck, and Steve kisses his ear and whispers quietly enough that no one can understand what he’s saying. Natasha is the only one who doesn’t bat an eye, but despite Bruce’s double-take, Clint’s wide eyes, and Tony’s unwavering gaze, no one says anything.

On their way out the door, Eliza and Benjamin stop at the table and hand over some brownies Eliza made for everyone. She leans down and kisses the top of Bucky’s head, patting Steve’s hand as she does so.

“You sleep good tonight, bubala.” She commands. “You need it.” She waits until Bucky nods obediently before winking at Steve. “You make sure he does.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Steve blushes fantastically but doesn’t move his hand. Tony is opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but Bruce’s pinched look keeps him quiet. Steve and Bucky are the first to leave, and everyone says goodbye but lets them go off on their own, watching as Bucky reaches for Steve’s hand the second they stand up and how they hold hands all the way out of sight. After the bell over the door has stopped tinkling, the rest of the team stares at one another, shocked.

“So.” Tony starts.

“I guess that’s happening.” Clint agrees.

When they ask Steve about it later ( _they_ being Natasha because she's grown closest to Steve and has a connection with Bucky), he just shrugs.

"Sometimes we just need to anchor each other." He says.

"Because it was a bad day." Natasha nods. "He needed you to ground him."

"Well, sorta." Steve shrugs again. "But I need it, too. I'm the one who watched him fall off a train, you know."

"You have bad days, too, Steve?" Natasha asks bluntly. Steve looks away for a minute, the affirmative written all over his face, as he thinks of ice cold water and Peggy's voice cutting out, harsh wind and Bucky's terrified eyes, finding Bucky in Zola's lab and seeing the shell of his best friend that was heartbreaking foreshadowing, waking up alone and confused and trying to figure out all these new gadgets. But then he thinks of Peggy's grandchildren sending hand-written cards, Bucky's smirk when Tony implies Captain America is pure as the driven snow, the steady weight of Bucky's hand on the small of his back, everyone arguing over what movie to watch on a Friday night and fighting for the biggest bowl of popcorn.

"Not too many, these days." He says truthfully. Natasha examines him for a minute before nodding.

"Because of Bucky." She adds, and it's almost a question. Steve smiles, because he doesn't think anything's ever made him as happy as hearing Bucky laugh after seeing his hollow eyes for so long, but he knows it's not only Bucky.

"He's a big part of it." Steve admits. "But he's not the only person helping me." He bumps his shoulder gently against hers and she smiles, a real smile that gets to her eyes instead of a smirk or a sarcastic grin.

"Well, Stark almost choked on his waffles. You gave us quite a show."

"Nah." Steve laughs, an eyebrow lifting playfully. "That was tame for us. We charge for more."


End file.
